reinforce the concept of letters and words. Explain that “Bingo” is the dog’s name. Write it on the board and count the letters. Sweep your hand from left to right under the letters as you say, “Let’s put the letters together and read the word. Bingo!”
I use the tune from “BINGO” for many other songs. For example, you can insert children’s names in the song as you sing:
There is a friend that you all know and Jake is his name-o.
J – A –K – E. J – A – K – E.
J – A – K – E. And Jake is his name – o.
Hint! If children have a very long name, then just use a nickname or the first five letters.
Sing the name of your school, city, or state using this tune. For example:
There is a state where we all live and Texas is its name-o.
T – E – X – A – S….
Use the tune to help children learn their zip code:
There is a zip code where I live and I know my zip code. 3 – 6 – 2 – 9 – 4…
Here’s a phonics song for word families.
There is a word family you should know and “at” is its name-o.
M – a – t mat
H – a – t hat
C – a – t cat
They end in “at” you know.
Someone came up to me at the end of one of my workshops and said, “Dr. Jean, all of your songs go to the same ten tunes.” I smiled and said, “Yes, I know, but that’s why they are easy for the children to sing.” When children know the tune, then they can focus on the words. And that’s why piggyback songs work so well. Happy singing!